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Chapter 13: “All We’ve Got Left Is the Key to the Airplane”
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PartIV 358 C H A P T E R 1 3 “AllWe’veGotLeftIs theKeytotheAirplane” A tabout1p.m.,threeoftheTainanKū’schūtaibrokeofftheirdevastating strafingattackonClarkFieldand,accordingtoplan,headed southfortheairfieldatDelCarmen,fifteenmilesduesouth.They weregoingtoshootupthelandingstripandthirty-fourorsopursuit shipsthatwerereportedtobebasedtherebya3dKūreconnaissance pilotonDecember5.1 However,barelyoutsideClarkField,ledby Lt.HidekiShingō’s1stChūtai,Lt.MasuzōSetō’s2dChūtai,andLt.Akira Wakao’s 4th Chūtai ran into what they identified as P-35As, evidently comingupfromDelCarmen.InWakao’schūtaiHaruoFujibayashifirst thoughtthefourhespottedintwotwo-planeformationswerefriendlies, butsoonrealizedhiserrorwhentheystartedshootingattheplanesinhis chūtaiastheycrossedinfrontoftheAmericanswhiletheywereclimbing. Whenthechūtaihadanaltitudeadvantageofbetweenseventeenhundred andtwothousandfeet,itbeganitsattack.TheP-35Asdidnotcounterattack ,butdespitefiringatthemthreetimes,Fujibayashiandtheothers failedtoscoreanyhits.2 Wakao’s shōtai fared badly. Both his wingmen—FPO2c Yasujirō KawanoandFPO3c YoshioAoki—werelostbetween1:05and1:15p.m.in thecombatwiththeAmericans.InSetō’s2dChūtai,oneofhisshōtaichō, CFPORyo\ichiNakamizo,waslostat1:05undersimilarcircumstances.3 Just as theTainan Kū’s three chūtai started in the direction of Del Carmen,forty-twoZero-senfromthe3dKūarrivedoverClarkafterhaving departedIbaatabout12:50.Lookingdown,theyspottedmorethanten planes,whichlookedlikeamixofP-40sandP-35s,apparentlyguarding theskyovertheairfieldataboutfourteenthousandfeet.Leadingtheformation ,andhighlyexcitedbytheprospectofengagingincombatwiththe Americansforthefirsttime,LieutenantTamotsuYokoyamaracedaheadof ch13 4/2/03,1:07PM 358 Chapter13 359 theothers.Ashedid,herealizedthatiftheyrushedintocombatfromthree differentchūtaipositions,theirexcessspeedwouldkeepthemfromfiring effectively.Yokoyamasignaledforhispilotstomaintainanappropriatedistance andapproachtheenemyfromabove.Yokoyama’scommandchūtaiof 6Zero-sen,alongwiththe12inLt.IchirōMukai’s2dDaitai(consistingof twochūtaiwith6Zeroseach)andthe6remaininginLt.ZenjirōMiyano’s 1stChūtai(3dDaitai),weretoattacktheAmericanswhileLt.TakeoKurosawa ’s1stDaitaiwithits12Zeroswouldflytopcoverforthem.4 Yokoyamacaughtupwiththeenemy’sleadplaneandengagedina dogfightwithit.Shellsfromhis20-mmcannonstrucktheAmerican’s wingandsenttheplaneinaplungetoearthwhenitswingblewoff. The3dKū’sflyingcommanderexultedashetoreintootherenemyships: therewasnothingheenjoyedmorethandogfighting.Itsoonappearedto YokoyamathatmostoftheAmericanshadbeenshotdown,withonlytwo orthreeescaping.5 Afterconfirmingthattherewerenomoreenemyplanesintheair, YokoyamaleftMiyano’schūtaitoflytopcoveratfourteenthousandfeet whiletheothersdescendedforastrafingattack,passingthroughtheblack smokerisingupfromtheearlierattacksbytherikkōandtheTainanKū’s Zero-sen.Eachdaitaisplitintotwosix-planechu\taitoapproachfromdifferent directionsinastringformation,weavingthroughtheheavysmoke obscuringthefieldandfiringonthoseplanesnotyetdestroyed.Asheled hissix-shipcommandchūtaionitsfirstpassovertheairfield,Yokoyama wasflyingsolowthathecouldsmellthesmoke.Aftercompletingseveral passes,heandhispilotsclaimedsettingfiretotwoB-17sanddestroying another, burning or destroying four B-18s, and burning one P-40 anddestroyingfourothers.Firefromtheir20-mmcannonsignitedwhat appearedtobeafuelstoragebuilding,resultinginahuge...